Alone Together
by estrellafrita
Summary: naz; the pride, the assurance that arises from knowing you are loved, no matter what you do./Firepaw and his sister Lilypaw go through apprenticeship with a few rough bumps. A few is an understatement.
1. logophile

Logophile; a person who loves words.

Bramblepaw was an oddly social cat.

Most cats he met—whether at gatherings or just generally asocial cats in his own clan—expected him to be shy and nervous and had a tendency to talk to him in soft-spoken tones. He wasn't angered by even the most angering of things, yet cats practically avoiding him for his outwardly appearance ruffled his fur the wrong way.

On the other hand, his sister Lilypaw appeared the most sociable of cats. She walked around with a goofy, confident grin and was generally friendly. Yet the mere thought of spending extended amounts of time clumped together with others caused her almost immediate frustration. In fact, as a kit, she had constantly snuck away from the nursery unnoticed practically every day. During these times, the only thing keeping her escapes a secret happened to be the fact that everyone perceived her as a squeaky, extroverted kitten who clung to their mother like tree sap to fur. Oh, how they were so, so wrong.

"Neva' read a book by it's cover," Lilypaw used to mumble under her breath.

The times where she got caught were rare, but also earned her a significant nickname: quickpaws.

Bramblepaw had a tendency to wish that he had a nickname like his sister; maybe it'd get him more attention, thus more time to socialize. Besides, his sister hated the attention she got. At least, he was pretty sure she did. It was hard to tell with her.

 _Lilypaw is massively odd,_ he thought to himself, staring up at the highrock as he was appointed a mentor…his…father's former lover? Tangledfur?

He had to admit, it was a…noticeable choice. He could see his mother blink in surprise, his father's ears pin a slight bit.

And the moment their leader, Robinstar, appointed his own father as Lilypaw's mentor…hell, something _had_ to be going on.

He let himself sink back into his thoughts as Robinstar began rambling on—that tom never knew when to shut his mouth, despite being WindClan's proud leader.

But, on the note of his sister…Lilypaw had a tendency to shorten words, like she was so deep into her thoughts and so done caring about the ones around her that maybe rendering her sentences almost incomprehensible would make her clanmates leave her alone. It was a bit ironic, considering she was the sister to him, who was the most wordy cat ever.

However, he did tend to screw up word meanings. By this, he meant he wasn't the best at using the right words, and sometimes he just overall went overkill with fancy words.

He decided to completely zoom out of his mind as soon as Tangledfur nudged him, fear prickling through his fur. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched her shoot a glance up at Robinstar. It took Bramblepaw a few seconds, but he almost immediately realized. They were doing the apprentice pledge!

For a few seconds, he was embarrassed. But at the same time, when he was standing in the sunlight with his sister and mentor at his side and a beaming smile parting his lips, he couldn't be happier.  
-

"Soo...what're we doin' t'day?"

"Be patient, sweetheart," Tangledfur purred to Lilypaw, and tossed a glance at Chestnutpelt.  
The tom smiled softly.

"What are we doing on this magnificent day?" Bramblepaw decided to reinforce the question, and followed it by grooming his chest hastily.

Behind him, he could hear Lilypaw giggle and snort; he tried not to show his absolute embarrassment.

"Nice words." his father grunted, pawing him playfully.

Bramblepaw flicked his ears as heat rushed to his face. He absolutely hated it when anybody made fun of his...more wordy dialogue. It honestly made him want to curl up into a small, teeny ball until he turned invisible, thus giving him an escape from the flusterment. Unfortunately for him, no clan cat ever had a history of doing such thing. Shoot.

"We're finally here!" Tangledfur finally announced, coming to a halt. "Run along, kiddos, we're gonna learn a ton today."

As they walked along, Bramblepaw couldn't help but admire the she-cat's motherly nature. He bore a toothy grin and glanced up at her, but her eyes were on Chestnutpelt, who now happened to be leading the way towards a patch of dirt.

The tom leaned over into his sister's ear. "Do you see the wonderful her?" He hissed, a tang of excitement lacing it's way into his voice, "what if Tangledfur and dad end up together, as loving mates?"

Lilypaw immediately flinched and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Gross. Mom wouldn' like that."

Bramblepaw frowned. "Mom would be delighted at dad forming a new romantic bond! She's been sick for practically many moons now; you know what the intelligent medicine cats said…" He insisted, even going to poke his sister on the shoulder; however, she seemed opposed at the idea of physical affection and shrugged her way away.

In that moment he became aware of his father, Chestnutpelt, staring at them with a blank, sullen look. Bramblepaw tried not to flinch; his father always seemed to know what they were discussing and what they were thinking. In this case, there was no denying it.

"Come on," his father called in an almost ominous voice, "We can't keep Tangledfur waiting."

As the brown-furred tom turned around, Lilypaw gently nipped Bramblepaw on the shoulder. The cheery feline immediately jumped in fear, eyes wild and breathing ragged.

When he turned for an explanation from his sister, there was none. She simply stared at him blankly.

"Ya heard em'," she almost growled, "jump alon'. I'll catch up soon."

The ginger tabby frowned. "You sure?" but soon whipped around regardless. His sister would probably fix him with a glare that translated into "I'm in a bad mood, leave me alone now or face my moodiness even more".

This upset the tabby. His sister was almost always cheery as ever, even sporting the stereotypical happy-go-lucky calico she-cat look, but once you got onto a topic she didn't like—especially one that involved or referenced change—she was down in the dumps and seemed angry at everything and everyone.

Bramblepaw had to come to a halt to avoid ramming into Tangledfur's legs. Speaking of the she-cat, she was now looking back worriedly at Lilypaw. _I don't blame her,_ he thought, and even almost mumbled the words out loud.

"You staying behind for…" Chestnutpelt trailed off, and Bramblepaw caught sight of his father not too far ahead. Tangledfur nodded in response, and came to a complete stop; the tom apprentice decided to scurry ahead.

"So, what are we doing on this great day?" Bramblepaw cheered as soon as he was side-by-side with his father.

The tom chuckled; Chestnutpelt wasn't the wordiest cat, either—just like Lilypaw. "Looking around the borders," he mused.

"Are the borders cool?"

Chestnutpelt stopped, as if thinking for a word that'd reach Bramblepaw's standards of approval. "…Extremely."

A tooth poked out of the corner of Bramblepaw's mouth as a grin stretched across his muzzle. "That was a nice vocabulary word," he meowed.

Chestnutpelt grunted. "Glad I got my son's approval."

The pair reached a river before long, which was wispy with spray from the rushing stream. Slimy stones rimmed the brook's edge, giving the water a special, complementary shine along with it. The fact that the grass grew a little more green along the sides and the water was clear and healthy made Bramblepaw's heart skip a few beats. He loved nature.

"Pretty cool, huh?" his father breathed, flicking his tail. Bramblepaw was about to speak, but saw his mentor's mouth open first and decided shutting his mouth would be politer. "This is the stream that leads to the moonpool. ThunderClan territory also happens to be right across, so I wouldn't…attempt to go across."

"I'd get my ears chewed off?" Bramblepaw joked.

"…Exactly."

As the day passed on and Chestnutpelt made short statements about everything they arrived at, Bramblepaw couldn't help but think about Lilypaw. He could only assume her and her mentor were tagging behind. However, curiosity killed the cat, and he opened his jaws.

"Dad?"

Chestnutpelt paused in the middle of his sentence and grunted.

Bramblepaw forced a smile to cover up the fact he was practically squirming in panic. "Do you have any idea where Lilypaw is?"

The tom took a few seconds to think, taking a deep breath. "Probably training with her mentor."

Bramblepaw's heart sunk. _Did she do that because she simply is frustrated at me? StarClan, please don't let her be angry at me!_ "…O-Oh. I thought she was going to train with us!"

"She probably will tomorrow," Chestnutpelt sighed, pawing at a daisy. His amber eyes glimmered and his rough, brown tabby pelt was matted in various places.

Besides the matted fur, Bramblepaw could see his father in himself; the brown tabby pelt [only paler], the small, pudgy build…

That said, he could also see his mother in himself! His mother was a short and chubby cream-base calico with emerald green eyes. The olive eyes and cream muzzle had been the parts he inherited, much to his pride.

However, his throat tightened the more he related himself to his mother. _Even if I inherited a lot from her…oh, StarClan please don't tell me I inherited her…her…_

Before he could finish his thought, his dad was already a few pawsteps away, beckoning him forwards.

Bramblepaw followed without another thought.


	2. eleutheromania

**eleutheromania** \- an intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

Much to Bramblepaw's surprise, when he got back to camp and peered into the medicine cat's den, Lilypaw was present.

Her white pelt was sleek and shiny and her green eyes were wavering like a glossy lake. The she-cat honestly looked tired and gloomy, like the burden that she had carried on her shoulders, a burden Bramblepaw probably caused, was weighing down on her shoulders with even more force than before.

It was a definitely sad look, and it even made Bramblepaw's stomach crawl.

Lilypaw almost immediately noticed her brother. "Heya, Bramble," she sighed, watching intently as the medicine cat leafed through her herbs.

"Hello, my wonderful sis...ter," Bramblepaw scurried over and quickly settled down beside her. "I was terrified about you."

Lilypaw flicked her ear. "Why?" She grunted, her eyes twinkling, "there's no reason to be worried 'bout me."

Frown. "You practically vanished out of nowhere!" He exclaimed, eyes widening for effect. "You could've gotten devoured by a clump of wolves while my eyes weren't focused on you!"

The medicine cat giggled in the background, and Bramblepaw felt his ears burn in shame.

Lilypaw, however, didn't focus on his descriptions and instead just looked plain bewildered. "Chill," she mumbled, "ya should just get some herbs from the meddy cat to calm yo nerves."

In the background, the medicine cat apprentice finally burst into laughter, swiftly followed by her mentor. While the two fought to get their laughter to die down, Bramblepaw's heart crumbled.

"Will you be training with the...with us tomorrow?" Bramblepaw hesitated, and quickly clenched his teeth after.

Lilypaw snorted. "Ya can't get me to sit in a room wih Tangle for any longer." She paused and glared down at her paws. "Tangle 'ousily likes dad, and wih mom being sick and all..."

The she-drifted off, and briefly squeezed her eyes shut. Bramblepaw could only offer a small shoulder-nudge as comfort, in fear of her lashing out, and gently fumbled over to the two medicine cats. One of them-presumably the med. cat in training-had furrowed her brow and continued staring at Lilypaw with an anger that could fuel a thousand suns.

She whipped her head around, mouth gaping open, and Bramblepaw couldn't help but notice the obvious overbite. Her pale ginger coat was fashioned with flower petals and she smelled strongly of herbs; a musky, almost hypnotizing aura.

"Can you'th believe that'th?!" The she-cat practically snarled, amber eyes blazing. "What does'th th'e know?!"

Bramblepaw, caught off guard and slightly memorized by the strong smells, blinked and tried to ignore the fact that, hey, that was a pretty rhetorical question she had asked. But with the way she stared daggers through him, he could only assume she wanted the question to be answered.

"She was just doing what she thought was fantastically right," he sighed. "She doesn't really-"

"Doe'thent really what?!" She hissed, the back of her neck bristling. "Nobody knows'th 'thiddly squat about how much Tangledfur'h gives to other'th!"

To be honest, Branblepaw was completely taken aback. He didn't expect her to snap at him! But the bitterness of her tone was like a snake with outstretched fangs sinking parched into him, venom sizzling like haywire through his veins. It hurt more than the sheer embarrassment of his misused words; he just didn't like seeing others upset.

For a few seconds, he simply stood there, his mouth open and thoughts bumbling. Should I snap back? He thought cautiously, feeling the burden of the med. apprentice's yelling weighing down his stomach. Should I reflect it back onto the sour her? Or shall I hold it and let her take her feelings out?

Before he was given much decision, the main herb-dedicated she-cat stepped forwards, cringing and looking despondent. The she-cat was also swirled with thick, earthy smells that were hypnotizing. Not to mention that she was also a beautiful one, with a heavy tortoiseshell coat and rosy blue eyes. It almost looked like the tips of her fur were dusted snow white. A soft peach nose finished it off, along with her gentle, calm look.

Pointing her nose down, she frowned at her apprentice. "Amberpaw," she warned, lashing her tail, "you know what we said about your..."

As the she-cat trailed off, the so-called Amberpaw's ears flattened against her head. She glanced cautiously up at her mentor, as if she expected another harsh glance, but when the only glare was her own she lowered her head again.

"Th'orry," she mumbled.

Dismissively, the med. cat twitched her tail before turning her full attention to Bramblepaw. He had to admit, he could already feel heat rising to his face as he was stared down by the she-cat's pearly blue eyes.

"I apologize about..." She began to signal towards Amberpaw, who now cleansed her paws while observing a pile of berries like they were the most interesting thing in the world, "I'm Jasminetail. Your name would be..."

"-Bramblepaw," the tom eagerly responded, a smile crossing his face.

Jasminetail grinned back wholeheartedly before a look of sincere concern crossed her face. "Bramblepaw," she began, studying him closely. He could just barely hear Lilypaw cackling softly in the background, and he made a weak effort at blocking it out. "You seem...heated. Have you shown any signs of a fever?"

Lilypaw burst out laughing, flanks heaving and all. "Symptoms of the love fever!" She blurted, gasping for breath.

If Jasminetail had had a reaction, it would've been the hint of a smile that pulled up her lips; besides that, she seemed to ignore Lilypaw's remark-thank StarClan. But the blue-eyed beauty had moved closer now, her muzzle brushing at his face.

For a few seconds, Bramblepaw stood completely still, his eyes glued to Jasminetail. She had such a wide eyed, small-faced look to the point that she looked more like a kit than those around her. Sucking in a deep breath, the flustered tabby try to ease his quivering fur, the whole world caving in on him...

And then the gorgeous tortie doubled back laughing, two more voices joining in.

Oh.

As Jasminetail stumbled to her paws, still chuckling under her breath, Bramblepaw stared at his paws, bewildered. What did I expect? He mused, dumbfounded. I guess I just thought her beautiful eyes were signaling something so I just did what she was doing... He flicked an ear. StarClan, I hope I didn't make the great her embarrassed...

But the she-cat was far from any form of discomfort. Bearing a gleaming grin, Jasminetail gave the distressed tom a soft shove. "Don't be so hard on yourself," she purred. "We were just joking around...kiddo..."

A mere "friendzoned" escaped Lilypaw's jaws before her bothered brother sent her a stinging glare. Her smile melted into a neutral look.

As Jasminetail gave him one last smile, he watched as she ordered Amberpaw in the same stopped, forgetful fashion to bring herbs to Robinstar. In the moments that he watched with curiosity gazing his gaze, a presence suddenly looked beside him.

The tom practically jumped out of his pelt. "Lilypaw!" He hissed under his breath, "don't scare me like that."

She gave him a lopsided grin. "What? Thinking about your girlfriend?"

A soft "I'm flattered" whistled from out of Jasminetail. Bramblepaw's ears burned in response.

Deciding to ignore her remark, he leaned into her ear as a new thought collected in his mind; however, Lilypaw decided she was on a roll with her smartass remarks and opened her jaws again; "For the love of Sta'Clan, if you come over here wih some sort of theory-"

She was cut off by the audible laughter of both medicine cats this time. Cue Bramblepaw's ears burning even worse; he might even get a sunburn at this rate.

"Lilypaw," he urged again, trying to get her attention without embrassing her. _The last thing she needs is me getting on her nerves again_ , he thought.

But when the she-cat continued talking, giggling and making witty remarks and gestures towards the two medicine cats, he stopped. Maybe it _was_ the better choice to leave her alone.

With a soft frown, he quietly left the medicine cat den.

Lilypaw was an oddly keep-to-herself kind of cat.

Most cats she met—whether at gatherings or, well, practically _anywhere_ —were drawn to her sometimes-witty nature and her generally warm attitude. The words she drew out in loud, puffy breaths were like music to their ears; a tune you kept on listening to, despite the rumbling in your stomach that tells you something's not right.

At least, Lilypaw thought so. She was pretty sure that others always had a bad gut feeling about her—but how could she blame them? They may not know her personally, but she had always been afraid that some cat could peer into her eyes and draw out every misleading, manipulative and selfish remark and she would watch as their delighted face melted into one of disgust.

Pure disgust.

On the other hand, her brother Bramblepaw was very silent and always looked like there was something on his mind. When they talked, she saw patterns racing before his eyes, a million adventures she longed to go on painted on page after page of the infinite book that was his mind. She was jealous of how when others talked to him, his clear, non-lispy voice rang out in no breaths and in perfect tune. The way he smiled softly and the other cat nodded and listened.

And then they turned around, assuming he was done, even though words were still sliding out and you could tell excitement ran through his veins as his eyes sparkled and he blabbered on in hushed tones. But then he noticed—he noticed they assumed. And then he shut up and turned around too.

It was honestly a little sad. (At least she didn't have to deal with being ignored.)

Sad how all she had wanted was peace, all he wanted was endless talking, and yet they attracted the opposite.

"I truly don't understand," Bramblepaw used to sigh, as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "It doesn't make sense."

"Nothin' makes sense." She used to reply.

And that was true—to a point, at least. StarClan knows why she was like this—bitter, attention-grabbing, begging for attention like a kit begging to go outside, yet yelling at those who got too close in fear they would look past her shining smiles and little dances and see what a monster she was inside. She didn't want to admit how much it scared her.

(It scared her a lot.)

Squeezing her eyes shut, Lilypaw gave herself a second to breathe in the morning air. To just relax for once before he went into hiding—somewhere, anywhere. She just needed time to recharge.

"Lilypaw?"

And, as she gently opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of giant orange eyes practically staring into her soul.

"A-hey!" she cried out, giving the she-cat a shove. "What was that for?"

Jasminetail cleared her throat. "You were doing…"

"-th'omething weird!" the small apprenticed finished. "You were being th'o quiet! It'h like th'omeone flipped a th'itch on you."

The startled she-cat blinked, before smothering her paw in licks. "I'm fine!" she giggled softly. "I just got sleepy suddenly."

Feeling a pit of worry nest in her stomach, she decided to lean on the den wall and _listen_ more than _talk_. She twitched one ear and relaxed her breath; however, she could still feel her stomach turning, a sickening feeling of 'they know' bite at her throat…

"Did you hear Tangledfur still has feelings for Chestnutpelt?" Jasminetail suddenly spat out, blinking wildly. "I heard her and Dovetail whispering about it."

Lilypaw had to bite down to keep herself from getting startled again. But…but why were they talking about this? _Just_ when she thought she could get her mind outta this mess, it followed her and bit her right in the ass.

Not only that, but…but Jasminetail wasn't…forgetful? What was going on? It was almost like she was fueled by…

" _Wha'th?_ " her apprentice gasped, even holding a paw up to her muzzle for effect. "Really? While Swallowth'ream is sth'ill alive?"

…gossip.

The tortie gave a slow nod. "I know…" she fumbled, "Dovetail's sister, Sandfoot, is in love with a cat from RiverClan too, and they're in a fight because Dovetail caught him flirting with some other she-cat. Dovetail told Sandfoot, and now Dovetail's blaming herself for her sister's relationship falling to pieces."

Wow.

Amberpaw made a 'tsk, tsk, tsk' noise, which ended up just sounding like her breathing heavily due to her lisp. It was almost laughable, despite the fear and anxiety fogging up in Lilypaw's brain. "What if Dovetail lied just to get a mate?"

Jasminetail gasped. "Oh my StarClan!" she shrilled, then looked around, focused on Lilypaw for a few seconds, and then snapped her head back to her apprentice…aka gossip buddy. "She totally would though. Dovetail is a nasty, mate-stealing, jealous and selfish she-cat after all! I can't even look at her—she's disgusting."

For some reason (a reason Lilypaw knew all too clearly), the last two sentences that rolled off the medicine cat's tongue stung her like a swarm of bees. _Besides the mate-stealing…that's what they'd think of me, huh?_

"You can never, _ever_ th'rust RiverClan ca'th," Amberpaw mused, giving her head a dramatic little shake.

 _She even_ looked _at me. I think she can tell I'm not all I appear to be._

Head spinning, Lilypaw shakily stood up, heading towards the entrance. The medicine cats' words echoed throughout the den.

"Patchheart is the _real_ mother of Toadpaw?!"

"Th'odpaw had a huge crush on me in the pas'th!"

"Applesth'orm was th'otally hitting on you at the gathering, by the way!"

"Oh gee, he is quite the handsome cat!"

"I know, th'ight? If I were older'h, I'd th'otally be his mate. Swoon!"

And with that, she squeezed her way out of the medicine cat den, feeling the she-cats gazes burning on the backside of her head.

(This scared her a lot more than she'd like to admit.)


End file.
